Nokia's New Windows Phone Boasts Big Screen 1080p Display, Could Be Released By The End Of The Year

Nokia, fresh off the heels of the release of the Lumia 1020, are not resting on their laurels and has already begun testing a new phone.

According to The Verge, Nokia is testing a big screen Windows Phone set for release later this year. Codenamed "Bandit," this phone is alleged to have a 6-inch screen with a 1080p display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor. It is currently being tested at AT&T.

According to sources close to Nokia that spoke to The Verge, this phone will be the first of many that Nokia plans to release with 1080p displays and that uses the Windows Phone operating system.

In addition to the information gathered, the "Bandit" will ship with a rear camera that has at least 20 megapixels with the same shape as the Nokia Lumia 925. Equipped with a polycarbonate body, the reported phone will be thin and lightweight for users.

In a previous report earlier this month, Windows Phone 8 began undergoing updates that may be related to the future release of this new phone. GDR3 or Amber, the latest update for the Windows Phone operating system, was long rumored to have support for screens five inches and up which goes with the "Bandit" 6-inch screen. According to a Reddit post, cited by The Verge, some of the other features include:

Orientation Lock

Driver Mode, will turn on automatically when you connect it via Bluetooth. Can reject phone calls/SMS and send auto reply back

Ability to have three medium sized tiles in a row

The update is set to be completely finalized and fully released sometime in mid-September. Many believe once the upgrade is completed, an announcement could be made regarding this new secret phone that The Verge reported about.

As pointed out by Alex Wagner of Phone Dog, phone/table hybrid devices with 5-inch and larger displays has been a growing market for consumers as of late. With a lot of phones, particularly Androids, having those screen sizes seems to be the new direction, it was only a matter of time before Nokia went for it also.

It was also announced that Nokia Lumia 925 will be launched on other carriers in the U.S. soon.

In July, Nokia released its most ambitious phone, the Nokia Lumia 1020. Equipped with a 41-mgapixel camera, the Lumia 1020 has 32 GB worth of storage and runs on the Windows Phone 8 operating system.

LG has scheduled a global press event for April 28, expect to see the LG G4 and possibly the LG G4 Note, which will be LG's flagship offerings of 2015. The company will need to compete with the formidable Samsung Galaxy S6, HTC One M9, Sony Xperia Z4 and Samsung Galaxy Note 5.